Kenya: The Challenges of Living with Disability

By Eric sande

The number of people living with disabilities in Africa is on the rise, with about 10 per cent of Africa’s population made up of those with physical impairment. The World Bank estimates that 20 per cent of the worlds poorest are disabled and most disadvantaged.

This condition has always been mistaken as a bad omen or burden to the society according to most African cultural practices, which have in turn shut out about 80 Per cent of the disabled out of employment.

Most of them are plagued with stigma and discrimination that facilitate their exclusion from participating fully in society. Often they are excluded from schools and therefore have limited opportunities to find work. For many, street begging becomes a sole means of survival.

In some societies, those with minor deformities are hidden from the public eye since they become a source of mockery for the family.

Video by Koinonia community